Great People Sleep Less...?

 you sleep less, your health can suffer from that. Recently I’ve read that some great people slept less than we usually do, for instance, da Vinci slept only 1.5 – 2 hours a day. How is it possible?! I’ve found some information about sleeping habits of great people who are considered to be extraordinary sleepers. There are so many myths and legends around them that it’s difficult to say something for sure. But I’ll try to write the most interesting facts in this article.

1. LEONARDO DA VINCI

Lifetime: 67 years

Some sources claim that the legendary artist Leonardo Da Vinci was able to stay awake and alert almost 22 hours of every day, all the while working on brilliant artworks and inventions. He slept only 1.5 – 2 hours a day taking a nap 15 – 20 minutes for every four hours that he was awake. Nowadays this sleeping system is called polyphasic sleep. Its followers try to use it and say that the system works fine for them. However its opponents say that da Vinci sleeping habit is just a myth, there are no trusted sources to confirm this fact about great artist.

2. NIKOLA TESLA

Lifetime: 87 years

One of the greatest inventors claimed to sleep just 2 – 3 hours a day. Tesla who could indeed work throughout the night, would often crash for the entire day of sleep after his exploits. He exhibited classic signs of manic creativity, which might have been interrupted by short recuperative naps or long recovery sleep. Otherwise, Tesla was nothing more than a short sleeper.”

3. WINSTON CHURCHILL

Lifetime: 91

Winston Churchill was said to sleep 5 hours a night on average, but he did at least advocate a substantial daily nap on top of that modest allowance. He would wake at 8, spend the morning in bed reading papers, dictating letters, etc., take a long nap at tea time, and work till as late as 3 am. He averaged 5-6 hours of sleep per day.

“You must sleep sometime between lunch and dinner, and no halfway measures. Take off your clothes and get into bed. That’s what I always do. Don’t think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day. That’s a foolish notion held by people who have no imaginations. You will be able to accomplish more. You get two days in one – well, at least one and a half.”

~ Winston Churchill ~

4. CALVIN COOLIDGE

Lifetime: 61 years

Calvin Coolidge slept 8 hours a night, plus 2 or 3 hours in the afternoon. In fact, his very first act as president of the United States was to go to sleep. It is said that Calvin Coolidge got more sleep in the White House than any other president.

5. THOMAS EDISON

Lifetime: 84 years

The great scientist remarked that he slept less than 5 hours a night. While working in his lab, he allowed himself almost no sleep for days. He kept a small cot in one corner and grabbed only a few minutes here and there to sustain him. A famous picture shows him stretched out fast asleepon the top of a workbench. Edison never discouraged this type of representation of himself, and newspaper photographers happily took the bait. Edison was known to sleep for an entire day, waking only to take a light meal, and then it was back to bed.

6. ALBERT EINSTEIN

Lifetime: 76 years

The story goes that Albert Einstein liked to sleep 10 hours a night – unless he was working very hard on an idea; then it was 11. He claimed that his dreams helped him to invent. Also he felt that naps “refreshed the mind” and that they helped him to be more creative.

7.  BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Lifetime: 84

Some sources claim that Benjamin Franklin slept 2-4 hours a night. Though we all know his famous quote: “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” In Franklin’s day, industriousness and hard work were extremely important human virtues. Edison adopted Franklin’s philosophy as well, and in both cases, it was important for them to model their behavior in a way that suggested that they didn’t sleep very much. To them, it meant that they were diligent and demanding in their lives, and never lazy in any way. In his thesis, Franklin allocated only 4 hours of sleep per night. This tenet is the most often quoted reference to the myth of Franklin’s lack of sleep. - “There will be sleeping enough in the grave.” ~ Benjamin Franklin ~

8. THOMAS JEFFERSON

Lifetime: 83

Thomas Jefferson is considered to be a polyphasic sleeper. He slept only 2 hours a day. Though, in letters to Doctor Vine Utley (1819), Thomas Jefferson writes about his sleep habits. We can conclude that his sleep was not very regular, he would go to sleep at different times (often late into the night), he would always devote at least 30 min. to creative reading before sleep, he would fall asleep later if the reading was of particular interest, and he would regularly wake up at sunrise.

9.  NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

Lifetime: 52

Some sources say that Napoleon slept only from 12 p.m. to 2 a.m., and then he woke up, worked and went to bed again at 5 a.m. and woke up at 7 a.m. It means he slept only 4 hours a night. He is indeed said to have slept little and frequently suffer from insomnia at times of great stress. Yet he was to be woken up only with bad news. The hard rule was that the good news could wait. His memoirs indicate that he did not mind dying young. Consequently, he would disregard his doctors on the matter of sleeping little and drinking buckets of strong coffee. As Napoleon’s life was jam-packed with stress, his short sleep might have been a consequence of his lifestyle.

“Different subjects and different affairs are arranged in my head as in a cupboard. When I wish to interrupt one train of thought, I shut that drawer and open another. Do I wish to sleep, I simply close all the drawers and then I am – asleep.”

~ Napoleon Bonaparte ~

10. SIR ISAAC NEWTON

Lifetime: 84

Sir Isaac Newton needed 3-4 hours of sleep daily. He worked so long and hard, often without sleep for days that he became ill from exhaustion.

As you can see it’s difficult to say for sure who was a real polyphasic sleeper. And it’s difficult to claim that sleeping less is a precondition to being successful in life. Now I understand that it doesn’t matter how much you have but it does matter how you use what you have. And I think that everyone should listen to his body and feel what it really needs. Do not be too lazy to sleep more than you need and do not be too hard-working to neglect your health.